Akai

Akai is a Hong Kong manufacturer of consumer electronics. It was founded as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, in 1946.
Following the controversial collapse of the original business in 2000, the Akai brand is now owned by Grande Holdings in Hong Kong which distributes various electronic products such as LED TV, washing machines, clothes dryers, air conditioners and smart phones, through collaborations with other electronics companies bearing relevant expertise.
The "Akai Professional" electronic instrument division was spun off in 1999 and remains under separate ownership from that of the main "Akai" brand.
Corporate history
Akai was founded by Masukichi Akai and his son, Saburo Akai (who died in 1973) as , a Japanese manufacturer in 1929 or 1946.
The company's business eventually became discombobulated and it left the audio industry in 1991. At its peak in the late 1990s, Akai Holdings employed 100,000 workers and had annual sales of HK$40 billion (US$5.2 billion). The company filed for insolvency in November 2000, owing creditors US$1.1B. It emerged that ownership of Akai Holdings had somehow passed in 1999 to Grande Holdings, a company founded by Akai's chairman James Ting. The liquidators claimed that Ting had stolen over US$800m from the company with the assistance of accountants Ernst & Young who had tampered with audit documents going back to 1994. Ting was imprisoned for false accounting in 2005, and E&Y paid $200m to settle the negligence case out of court in September 2009. In a separate lawsuit, a former E&Y partner, Christopher Ho, made a "substantial payment" to Akai creditors in his role as chairman of Grande Holdings.
The "Akai Professional" division specialising in electronic instruments became a separate business in 1999. It was bought in 2005 by businessman Jack O'Donnell (later becoming a part of his inMusic Brands group) and is no longer associated with the main "Akai" brand.
History
Historical products
Akai's products included reel-to-reel audiotape recorders (such as the GX series), tuners (top level AT, mid level TR and TT series), audio cassette decks (top level GX and TFL, mid level TC, HX and CS series), amplifiers (AM and TA series), microphones, receivers, turntables, video recorders and loudspeakers.
Many Akai products were sold under the name Roberts in the US, as well as A&D in Japan (from 1987 after a partnership with Mitsubishi Electric), Tensai and Transonic Strato in Western Europe. During the late 1960s, Akai adopted Tandberg's cross-field recording technologies (using an extra tape head) to enhance high frequency recording and switched to the increasingly reliable Glass and crystal (X'tal) (GX) ferrite heads a few years later. The company's most popular products were the GX-630D, GX-635D, GX-747/GX-747DBX and GX-77 open-reel recorders (latter featuring an auto-loading function), the three-head, closed-loop GX-F95, GX-90, GX-F91, GX-R99 cassette decks, and the AM-U61, AM-U7 and AM-93 stereo amplifiers.
Akai manufactured and badged most of its imported hi-fi products with the Tensai brand (named after the Swiss audio and electronics distributor Tensai International). Tensai International was Akai's exclusive distributor for the Swiss and Western European markets until 1988.
Akai limited its consumer hi-fi product line in the United States and Europe towards the end of the 20th century.
Introduction of the on-screen display
Akai produced consumer video cassette recorders (VCR) during the 1980s. The Akai VS-2 was the first VCR with an on-screen display, originally named the Interactive Monitor System. By displaying the information directly on the television screen, this innovation eliminated the need for the user to be physically near the VCR to program recording, read the tape counter, or perform other common features. Within a few years, all competing manufacturers had adopted on-screen display technology in their own products.
Akai Professional
In 1984, a new division of the company was formed to focus on the manufacture and sale of electronic instruments, and was called Akai Professional.
The first product released by the new subsidiary was the MG1212, a 12 channel, 12 track recorder. This innovative device used a special VHS-like cartridge (a MK-20), and was good for 10 minutes of continuous 12 track recording (19 cm per second) or 20 minutes at half speed (9.5 cm per second). One track (14) was permanently dedicated to recording absolute time, and another one for synchronization such as SMPTE or MTC. Each channel strip included dbx type-1 noise reduction and semi-parametric equalizers (with fixed bandwidths). The unit also had innovations like an electronic 2 bus system, a 12 stereo channel patch bay and auto punch in and out, among others. The unique transport design and noise reduction gave these units a recording quality rivaling that of more expensive 16 track machines using 1" tape. The MG-1212 was later replaced by the MG-1214, which improved the transport mechanism and overall performance.
AX series analog synthesizers
Other early products included the Akai AX80 8-voice analog synthesizer in 1984, followed by AX60 and AX73 6-voice analog synthesizers ca.1986. The AX-60 borrowed many ideas from the Roland Juno series, but used voltage controlled analog oscillators (VCO) as a sound source as opposed to Roland's more common digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCO), and also allowed the performer to "split" the keyboard (using different timbres for different ranges of keys). The AX-60 also had the ability to interface with Akai's early samplers through a serial cable, using 12-bit samples as an additional oscillator.
Digital Samplers (S, X, Z series)
The S612 12-bit digital sampler in 1985, was the first in a series of (relatively) affordable samplers already in 19-inch studio-rack format but in black color. It held only a single sample at a time, which was loaded into memory via a separate disk drive utilizing Quick Disk 2.8-inch floppy disks. The maximum sample time at the highest quality sampling rate (32 kHz) was one second.
The introduction of a "professional" range of digital samplers began with the 12-bit S900 in 1986, followed by the X7000 keyboard sampler in 1986, and the S700 rack-mount version in 1987. Unlike the single-sample S612, however, they allowed the use of six active samples at once, had a built-in disk drive and could be extended with six individual outputs via cable and a flash memory extension which added another six samples to the memory for multisample playback. The S700/X7000 sampler series were light-grey colored, which didn't change throughout the whole "professional" range of Akai samplers.
The 16-bit Akai S1000 series followed in 1988, adding the option to read CD-ROMs and write to hard disks via SCSI. This range was superseded by the S3000 series in 1993, with optional built-in CD-ROM drive, followed by the S5000 and S6000. Additional releases of note were the Z4 and Z8 24-bit 96 kHz samplers.
Sampler Models
S612 - 1985
X7000 - Keyboard Sampler - 1986
S700 - 1987
S900 - 1986
X3700 - Keyboard Sampler - 1986
S950 - 1988
S1000 - 1988
S1000KB - Keyboard Sampler - 1988
S1000PB - Playback only device - 1988
S1100 - 1992
S01 - 1993
S2000 - 1995
S2800 - 1992
S20 - Drum Machine-styled device - 1997
S3000 - 1993
S3000XL
S3200 - 1996
S3200XL - 1996
S5000 - 1998
S6000 - 1999
Z4 - 2002
Z8 - 2002
MPC
Akai also produced several Digital MIDI sequencers and digital synthesizers such as the MPC range, a line of integrated drum machines, MIDI sequencers, samplers and direct-to-disk recorders.
New ownership of Akai Professional
In December 1999, one year before the application of the to Akai Electric Company Ltd., the brand of its musical instrument division, Akai Professional was acquired by a company of the United States. The new company was dubbed "Akai Professional Musical Instrument Corporation". (AKAI professional M.I.) was established in the same year, however it was bankrupted in 2005.
In 2004, following a US distribution deal, the Akai Professional Musical Instrument division was acquired by Jack O'Donnell, owner of Numark Industries and Alesis. In 2012, inMusic Brands was formed as a parent company for O'Donnell's companies, including Akai Professional.
Current products
In early 2003, Grande Holdings began undergoing a re-exposure of Akai's brands by marketing various audio visual products manufactured by Samsung. In the same year, Grande began to distribute Akai home appliances such as air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. In the 2010s, it began to distribute Akai smart phones in collaboration with some Chinese smart phone manufacturers such as Gionee, in India and other countries.
Video
AV receivers
Portable DVD players
DVD players
DVD recorders
Home theatre systems
Home theatre Speakers
VCD players
VCRs
Mobile sound
Amplifiers
Cassette receivers
CD changers
CD receivers
DVD changers
DVD receivers
Car Audio – DVD players
Car Audio – Speakers
Car Audio – TFT monitors
Home appliances
Air conditioners
Air coolers
Air purifiers
Chest freezers
Dishwashers
Heaters
Ice makers
Microwave ovens
Refrigerators
Showcases
Vacuum cleaners
Washing machines
Water dispensers
Wine cellars
Audio
Stereo rack systems
Mini systems
Micro music
Retro radios
Sound boxes
Portable music players
Tape Decks
Portable DAT Recorder/Player (Blue colored body,Webshop DirectOrder only, OEM from JVC/Victor)
Portable MD Recorder/Player (Blue color Body,Webshop DirectOrder only, OEM from JVC/Victor)
Digital
Wireless Surround Sound Systems
Bluetooth
MP3 player
Mobile phones
Smart phones
Television
Color televisions
LCD televisions
Plasma television
Set-top boxes
Akai Professional products
Synthesizers
AX60 (c.1986) – discontinued
AX73 (c.1986) – discontinued
AX80 (1984) – discontinued
VX90 (c.1986) – rack-mount version of AX73, discontinued
VX600 (c.1988) – 3-octave keyboard synthesizer with EWI connection jack, discontinued
Akai SG01v (c.1996) – desktop sound module, discontinued
MINIAK – discontinued
S612 (1985) – discontinued
S900 (1986) – discontinued
X3700 (c.1986) – discontinued
X7000 (c.1986) – discontinued
S700 (1987) – discontinued
S950 – discontinued
S1000 (1988) – discontinued
S1100 (1990) – discontinued
S01 (1992) – discontinued
S2800 (1992) – discontinued
S3000 (1992) – discontinued
S3200 (1992) – discontinued
CD3000 (1993) – discontinued
REMIX16 (1995) – table-top phrase sampler, discontinued
S2000 (1995) – discontinued
S3000XL (1995) – discontinued
S3200XL – discontinued
S20 (c.1997) – discontinued
CD3000XL (c.1997) – discontinued
S5000 (c.1999) – discontinued
S6000 (c.1999) – discontinued
Z4 (2002) – discontinued
Z8 (2002) – discontinued
MPX8
MPX16
MPC Key 61
Music Production Center
MPC60 (1987) – MIDI Production Centre, discontinued
MPC60II – (1991) – discontinued
MPC3000 (1993) – discontinued
MPC3000LE (1999) – discontinued
MPC2000 (1997) – discontinued
MPC2000XL (2000) – discontinued
MPC4000 (2002) – discontinued
MPC1000 (2003) – discontinued
MPC500 (2006) – discontinued
MPC2500 (2005) – discontinued
MPC5000 (2008) – discontinued
MPC Renaissance (2012) – discontinued
MPC Studio (2012) – Discontinued
MPC Element (2013) – Discontinued
MPC Touch (2015)
MPC Studio Black (2016)
MPC Live (2017)
MPC X (2017)
MPC Force (2019)
MPC One (2020)
MPC Live ll (2020)
MPC Studio II (2021)
MPC Key 61 (2022)
MPC One+ (2023)
Computer audio interfaces
EIE (2011)
EIE PRO (2011)
Drum machines
MR16 (c.1985)
XE-8 1U rack mounted, Acoustic drum sound from S-1000 library, discontinued
XR10, discontinued Table Top Playback Sampler incl XE-8 Sound with Dance Sample Sounds 16-bit, discontinued
XR20 (2008) Made by Alesis
Rhythm Wolf (c.2015) Tabletop analogue drum machine with bass synth
Tom Cat
Electronic wind instruments
EVI1000 (1987) – Electronic Valve Instruments, discontinued
EWI1000 (1987) – Electronic Wind Instrument, discontinued
EWV2000 – Electronic Wind Instrument sound module, discontinued
EWI4000S (2005)
EWI-USB (2008)
EWI5000 (2014)
EWI SOLO (2020)
Effects units / Utilities
EX90R – Reverb, discontinued
ME10D – MIDI digital delay, discontinued
ME15F – MIDI dynamic controller, discontinued
ME20A – MIDI sequencer arpeggiator, discontinued
ME25S – MIDI note separator, discontinued
ME30P – MIDI 4×8 patchbay, discontinued
ME35T – Audio/MIDI trigger, discontinued
ME80P – MIDI 8×10 patchbay, discontinued
MB76 – Programmable mix bay, discontinued
PEQ6 – Programmable equaliser, discontinued
DP88 (1993) – digital audio patchbay, discontinued
AR900 (1986–89) – 16-bit MIDI Digital Reverb, discontinued
MFC42 (2001) – filter bank, discontinued
HV10 Harmony generator (2002)
VST Plug-ins (2002)
Guitar pedals
Analog Delay
Blues Overdrive
Chorus
Compressor
Deluxe Distortion
Drive3 Distortion
Drive3 Fuzz
Drive3 Overdrive
E2 Head Rush
Flanger
Phase Shifter
iPod/iPad Keyboard Controllers
SynthStation25
SynthStation49
AkaiMPC Fly (2012)
MIDI Sequencers
MS08 (c.1985) – discontinued
ASQ10 (c.1986/7) – discontinued
Standalone Multi-track Audio Recorders
MG614 (c.1983?) – discontinued
MG1212 (1984) – discontinued
MG1214 (c.1985) – discontinued
DR1200/DL1200 (1988) – discontinued
DD1000 (1990) – discontinued
DD/DL1500 (1994) – 16-track DAW, discontinued
DD8 (1996) – discontinued
DD8plus (1998) – discontinued
DR4D (1993) – discontinued
DR8 (1994) – discontinued
DR16 (1995) – discontinued
DPS12 (1997) – discontinued
DPS16 (1999) – discontinued
DPS24 (2002) – discontinued
DPS24MKII – discontinued
RE32 (1999) – controller for DD/DR series, discontinued
Studio Monitor Speakers
RPM3
RPM8 – discontinued
50x
USB MIDI / MIDI controllers
APC20
APC40
APC40 MkII
EWI-USB
LPD8 (2009)
LPK25 (2009)
MPD16 (2002) – discontinued
MPD18 – discontinued
MPD24 (2006) – discontinued
MPD26 (2010)
MPD32 (2008)
MPK25 (2009)
MPK49 (2007)
MPK49 V2 (2007)
MPK61 (2009)
MPK88 (2009)
MPK Mini
MPK Mini Play (comes packed with 128 sounds and its own built-in speaker)
MPK Mini MK II (2014)
MPK Mini MK III (2020)
MPK225 (2014)
MPK249 (2014)
MPK261 (2014)
MAX25 (2014)
MAX49 (2014)
MX73 MIDI Master Keyboard – discontinued
MX76 MIDI Master Keyboard (1987) – discontinued
See also
1/4-inch Akai VTRs
Akai VK (videocassette format) VTRs
List of phonograph manufacturers
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Vintage Cassette Decks Collection of Akai Vintage Cassette decks and other brands.
Audio equipment manufacturers of Japan
Manufacturing companies established in 1929
Consumer electronics brands
Home appliance manufacturers of Japan
In-car entertainment
Mobile phone manufacturers
Musical instrument manufacturing companies of Japan
Synthesizer manufacturing companies of Japan
Guitar effects manufacturing companies
Film and video technology
Phonograph manufacturers
Japanese companies established in 1929
Companies formerly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Japan
Japanese brands